Disentangling the Roles of Race, Gender, and Socio-Economic Status on Childhood Adiposity from Kindergarten to 8th Grade

This project used Latent Growth Curve Modeling to examine race and gender as moderators for the relation between socio-economic status (SES) and children’s initial, standardized Body Mass Index (zBMI) and rate of zBMI change from Kindergarten to 8th grade. Data were obtained on 14,800 White and Black children (~50% male) from a nationally representative database that followed the children from Kindergarten through the 8th grade. BMI data was collected at six time points. Black children had consistently higher zBMIs than their White counterparts. Socio–economic status significantly predicted higher initial status in Black boys and lower initial status and/or rates of change in White children. Pairwise comparisons suggested that race, gender and race by gender interactions moderate the relation between SES and zBMI. The differential influence of SES on zBMI across groups and time introduces new facets to understanding SES as a potential risk, protective, or vulnerability factor for adiposity